Professional Documents
Culture Documents
March 2008
Acknowledgements
Principal author: Pireh Otieno
Editors: James Ohayo and Tom Osanjo
Design and layout: Daniel Vilnersson
Sponsor: Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programme
Printed at UNON/Publishing Services Section/Nairobi
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ISBN: 978-92-1-131984-2
© United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 2008. All rights reserved
The Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative is one of the concrete steps
taken by UN-HABITAT in association with the Governments of Tanzania, Kenya
and Uganda, and the Secretariat of the East African Community to support small
towns in the region to attain the water and sanitation targets of the Millennium De-
velopment Goals. Following the admission of Rwanda and Burundi as members of
the East African Community, UN-HABITAT has partnered with the African Devel-
opment Bank to expand the programme to the two countries.
The Initiative is designed to demonstrate that the water and sanitation target
could be met in these towns with modest investments targeted primarily to reha-
bilitation of existing infrastructure, with due emphasis on capacity building at local
level to ensure the sustainability of these services. It is expected that demonstrating
an integrated approach to the provision of basic services in these towns and creat-
ing management capacity at local level would provide a model for national author-
ities and donors, including international financing institutions, to replicate this ap-
proach in other towns in the region.
I am glad to note that considerable progress has been achieved in programme
implementation in the towns covered in the first stage of the Initiative. These in-
clude Kisii and Homa Bay in Kenya, Masaka and Kyotera in Uganda, Bukoba and
Muleba in Tanzania and the border town of Mutukula.
To ensure local ownership of the programme, multistakeholder forums have been
set up in each project town. The forums bring together representatives of women
and youth groups, orphan-headed households and other vulnerable groups, com-
munity-based organizations, faith-based groups, non-governmental organizations,
local government, local media and the private sector, among others.
The rationale for setting up these forums is to ensure that the interventions un-
der the Lake Victoria Initiative are developed and implemented in a manner that
is informed by and responds to the needs of the local stakeholders. Through regu-
lar communication and feedback, the forums also ensure that stakeholders under-
stand and support the achievement of the goals and objectives of the Initiative.
It is worth noting that since their formation, the forums have continued to create
a meaningful space for town residents, especially the urban poor, to engage with
service providers and the local government on a number of service-related issues.
This Step-by-Step Guide is part of a series of publications to be released by UN-
HABITAT to document experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of
the Lake Victoria Initiative. It outlines the process of setting up and managing a
town-level multistakeholder forum. It also proposes some areas where the forums
can effectively be used as platforms for involving town residents in dealing with
citywide issues such as participatory planning and budgeting, preparation of citi-
zen report cards, strengthening of consumer voice in utilities and preparation and
implementation of city development strategies.
I extend my sincerest gratitude to the Government of The Netherlands for the
valuable financial support to this programme. I am also grateful to the Govern-
ments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and the Secretariat of the East African Com-
munity for their continued support and guidance in its implementation.
Anna Tibaijuka
Executive Director
Table of Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms..................................................................................................... 2
Foreword................................................................................................................................. 4
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 14
1.1 Programme Management Structure................................................................................. 14
1.2 Rationale for Multistakeholder Partnerships....................................................................... 16
Boxes
Box 1: What is Pro-poor Water and Sanitation Governance?.................................................... 19
Box 2: Town-Level Stakeholders of the Lake Victoria Initiative................................................... 21
Box 3: Stakeholder Mapping................................................................................................... 22
Box 4: Tips on Integrating Women’s Perspectives in Stakeholder Consultations......................... 25
Box 5: Content of the Multistakeholder Forum’s Terms of Reference......................................... 27
Box 6: Checklist on the Selection of MSF Members................................................................. 28
Box 7: Multistakeholder Forum as a Mechanism for Fighting Corruption.................................... 30
Box 8: Multistakeholder Forum as a Mechanism for Conflict Management and Resolution.......... 30
Box 9: Criteria for awarding Water Kiosks to Community Groups in Kisii.................................... 31
Box 10: Principles and Criteria that Determine the Success of Stakeholder
Participation in Monitoring............................................................................................. 36
Box 11: Advantages of Stakeholder Participation in Monitoring.................................................... 37
Box 12: Challenges of Participation in Monitoring....................................................................... 38
Box 13: Benefits Derived from Participatory Budgeting in Singida District Council in Tanzania....... 44
Box 14: Service-related issues Addressed by Citizen Report Cards............................................ 46
Box 15: Essentials of a City Development Strategy..................................................................... 48
Figures
Fig. 1: Programme Management Structure.............................................................................. 16
Tables
Table 1: Matrix for Identifying Thematic Working Group Members................................................ 35
Table 2: Sample Monitoring Plan................................................................................................ 39
Table 3: Sample of Issues to be Monitored................................................................................ 40
Table 4: Thematic Working Group Routine Monitoring Form........................................................ 41
Case Studies
Case Study 1: Participatory Planning and Budgeting in Kerala: The People’s Plan Campaign...... 44
Case Study 2: Citizen Report Card in Bangalore....................................................................... 45
Case Study 3: WaterVoice Committees in Great Britain............................................................. 46
Case Study 4: NWASCO’s Water Watch Groups, Zambia......................................................... 48
Case Study 5: Lake Victoria Region City Development Strategies Programme............................ 49
Executive Summary
There is no one best way to set up and manage a town-level multistakeholder fo-
rum. The composition of the multistakeholder forum and issues to be addressed
will differ from one town to another. This Step-by-Step Guide has been developed
with the understanding that one-size-does-not-fit-all. The users of the Guide are,
therefore, encouraged to be flexible in developing multistakeholder partnerships in
line with their local needs and resources.
A substantial part of the Guide is based on UN-HABITAT’s own learning and ex-
periences gained in the first phase of the Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanita-
tion Initiative. Current thinking on multistakeholder partnerships and the experi-
ences and practices of other development partners are also used to illustrate some
points.
The Guide is intended to help new towns in the second phase of the Lake Victoria
Initiative to get started in developing and managing effective multistakeholder part-
nerships. The town-level multistakeholder forum is also designed to involve town
residents in citywide issues, including the improvement of municipal governance.
. Phase I of the Lake Victoria Initiative covers the following towns: Kisii and Homa Bay in Kenya, Masaka and Kyotera in
Uganda, Bukoba and Muleba in Tanzania and the border town of Mutukula.
iv. The current pitch for reform of the water and sanitation sector acknowl-
edges the need for participation of the local people.
v. Multistakeholder partnerships generate greater buy-in by, for example,
promoting a greater willingness to engage with poor communities and
a greater willingness to pay for services.
vi. From a rights-based perspective, development is people-centred.
Rights-based approaches require a high degree of participation, includ-
ing from communities, civil society, minorities, indigenous peoples,
women and others.
. http://www.unhchr.ch/development/approaches-04.html
10
The Structure of the Guide
The Guide has five basic steps:
These questions are not cast in stone. They are intended to guide discussions on the
nature, composition and responsibilities of the multistakeholder forum. Participat-
ing towns are encouraged to add as many questions as their local situations may
demand.
11
Step 3: Establish Thematic Working Groups
Thematic working groups are smaller groups carved out of the multistakeholder
forum to focus on specific project issues. In the case of the Lake Victoria Initiative,
project activities can be categorized into three main areas:
The towns are encouraged to set up any other working group they deem relevant
for the purposes of tackling wider issues of municipal governance.
Where necessary, individuals and representatives of community groups who are
not members of the multistakeholder forum but have relevant skills, interest and/
or experience, should be co-opted into the thematic working groups.
Working groups will need different types of capacity building support in order
to perform effectively. This support will vary from town to town and in relation to
the different working group activities, but should include:
12
means of observing, frequency, and suggested monitoring procedures as shown in
Table A below.
13
Introduction
Over the past two decades, small towns bordering Lake Victoria have experienced
rapid growth due to increased economic development from a variety of activities
including fisheries, industrial development and growth of small-scale businesses.
In many of these towns, basic infrastructure and services are often run-down due
to poor maintenance, lack of rehabilitation and low human resource capacity for op-
eration and maintenance. The most affected are the poor who often remain outside
the reach of municipal services.
The Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative is a collaborative ef-
fort between UN-HABITAT, the Governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and
the Secretariat of the East African Community. It supports small towns in the Lake
Victoria region to attain the water and sanitation target of the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals. The Initiative is designed to demonstrate that the water and sanitation
target could be met in these towns with modest investments targeted primarily to
rehabilitation of existing infrastructure, with due emphasis on capacity building at
local level to ensure the sustainability of these services.
The programme is being implemented in a two-stage process. In the first stage,
implementation is carried out in six towns, two from each of the three countries.
The objective is to gain experience from the implementation of the first stage and
to refine the implementation methodology in additional nine towns in the second
stage. Towns covered in the first stage include Kisii and Homa Bay in Kenya, Ma-
saka and Kyotera in Uganda, Bukoba and Muleba in Tanzania and the border town
of Mutukula.
Following the admission of Rwanda and Burundi as members of the East African
Community, UN-HABITAT has partnered with the African Development Bank to
expand the programme to the two countries.
1.1
Programme Management Structure
A programme management structure has been set up to coordinate the implemen-
tation of the Lake Victoria Initiative at various levels. At the regional level, the Min-
isters responsible for water and sanitation in the three partner countries provide
political oversight and policy guidance. A strong partnership has also been estab-
lished with the secretariat of the East African Community.
In each country, three levels of programme management have been established.
At the national level, a project management unit (PMU), responsible for overall
14
15
coordination and management of project activities, has been established. Members of
the PMU include representatives of the Ministry responsible for water and sanitation,
representative of the Ministry of Health and a representative of the Ministry of Local
Government, among others.
At the town level, project implementation units (PIU) chaired by respective town
clerks, coordinate project implementation. A multistakeholder forum, bringing to-
gether representatives of women groups, youth groups, orphan-headed house-
holds and other vulnerable groups, community-based organizations, faith-based
groups, non-governmental organizations, local government, local media and pri-
vate sector, among others, has been formed in each project town.
Multistakeholder Forum
Women groups, youth groups, orphan-headed households
and other vulnerable groups, community-based
organizations, faith-based groups, non-governmental
organizations, local government (elected leaders),
local media, private sector, etc
1.2
Rationale for Multistakeholder Partnerships
In the past few decades, four main trends have opened up the development arena
to non-state actors such as poor communities, the civil society and the private sec-
tor. These include:
. ESMAP and BNWPP. July 2003. A Sourcebook on Stakeholder Involvement in Options Assessment: Promoting Dia-
logue in Meeting Water and Energy Needs, pg.2
16
i. The changing role of governments from their traditional role as a sole
service provider to that of regulator and occasionally facilitator, ena-
bling the private sector, communities, and multistakeholder partner-
ships to play expanded roles in service provision and management.
ii. An expanding definition of the public interest that places more weight
on rights and interests of people and communities affected by develop-
ment activities.
iii. Increasing efforts by stakeholders to hold authorities and projects ac-
countable for their decisions and actions.
iv. Increasing emphasis on good governance and transparent and partici-
patory decision making, which requires that stakeholders are both con-
sulted and empowered to participate in decisions that affect them.
The result of these trends is succinctly described in this quote by the Business Part-
ners for Development (BPD):
“These new dynamics have led to some fundamental shifts in how societies work and
how they are governed. Governments are relinquishing some of their traditional
roles and power by making the challenging transition from implementers to enablers.
Increasingly the role of business in development has been recognised. Civil society is
finding a more confident voice and communities are becoming empowered”.
. Business Partners for Development. 2001.Flexibility by Design: Lessons from Multi-Sector Partnerships in Water and
Sanitation Projects, London, UK. Pg. 2.
. International Finance Corporation. May 2007. Stakeholder Engagement: A good practice handbook for companies doing
business in emerging markets. Washington D.C.
. WSP. 2007. Engaging with Citizens to improve services. Water and Sanitation Program – Asia
17
transformation of the role of the public sector, the participation of the
private sector and the role of water and sanitation services in pover-
ty eradication. Multistakeholder partnerships provide a framework to
bring these elements together. At the same time, such partnerships of-
fer the flexibility to provide more creative and sustainable solutions to
meet the current water and sanitation needs.
iv. Multistakeholder partnerships also generate greater buy-in by, for ex-
ample, promoting a greater willingness to engage with poor commu-
nities and a greater willingness to pay for water and sanitation servic-
es. This argument is reinforced by the fact that only end users can de-
termine the type of services they find most relevant, convenient and
affordable.
v. From a rights-based perspective, development is people-centred. Ac-
cording to the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development,
. Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP). 2007. Overview and Key Findings: Engaging with Citizens to Improve Serv-
ices. Water and Sanitation Program – Asia
18
development involves not just economic growth, but equitable distribu-
tion, enhancement of people’s capabilities and widening of their choic-
es. Rights-based approaches require a high degree of participation, in-
cluding from communities, civil society, minorities, indigenous peoples,
women and others.
vi. There is increasing consensus that projects are much more likely to
meet their objectives when solutions are arrived at through meaningful
participation of stakeholders10. Experience shows that development be-
comes beneficial only when the people it is intended for have a say in
defining what their problems are and actively participate in providing
solutions. The stakeholder engagement process is helpful in sustain-
ing and building trust, cooperation, and partnerships that are required
for sustainability of development interventions. Multistakeholder part-
nerships that involve poor communities are, therefore, presumed to be
a way of providing a sustained voice to voiceless communities. Many
would agree that a sustained community voice in the management of
water and sanitation services leads to a greater chance of a system’s
long-term sustainability. This in part, is what is often referred to as pro-
poor water and sanitation governance.
Box 1 below summarizes what pro-poor water and sanitation governance is and its
importance in improving sector performance.
What is Pro-poor Water and • The poor comprise the majority of potential new cus-
Sanitation Governance? tomers in many towns, yet most water utilities lack
skills, knowledge and will to adequately respond to
Although there is no consensus on a single definition of pro- this demand and to design services with the particu-
poor governance, a recent review of existing concepts of lar needs of low-income customers in mind.
water and sanitation governance and an analysis of pro-poor
approaches in UN-HABITAT’s interventions, concludes that • Most water regulators have no specific policy for the
any definition of pro-poor water and sanitation governance poor unserved areas and do not consider the poor
should include two important elements: when drawing up private sector management con-
tracts and concessions. They do not encourage
• Add more voices, responsibilities, transparency and service providers to equate economic, efficient and
accountability to the formal and informal organiza- viable operations with serving the poor.
tions associated with water and sanitation manage-
ment as a whole; and • Widening the scope of governance to include CBOs,
NGOs, religious organisations and businesses, both
• Create structures in which the poor can participate formal and informal, addresses local government in-
in the planning and implementation processes of in- stitutional accountability – the need for openness and
terventions for improved water supply and sanitation transparency in the operations of local authorities.
service delivery.
• Lack of power and choice often makes it diffi-
cult for the poor to obtain adequate resources. Hu-
Why Focus on Pro-poor Water man Rights-based approaches have integrated the
and Sanitation Governance? achievement of democratic rights such as participa-
tion into the development dialogue.
The focus on pro-poor water and sanitation governance is
Adapted from Rose N. Osinde. 2006. Pro-poor water and Sanitation Governance:
necessitated by a number of factors: The Review of existing concepts of water governance and an analysis of pro-
poor approaches in UN-HABITAT’s interventions, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi. Box 1
. UN. 1986. Declaration on the Right to Development Adopted by General Assembly resolution 41/128 of 4 December
1986
. http://www.unhchr.ch/development/approaches-04.html
10. David Jones. Jan 2003. Analysing the potential of multistakeholder dialogue in water and sanitation sector reform,
Building Partnerships for Development in Water and Sanitation, Occasional Paper Series.
19
Step 1: Mobilize and
Sensitize Stakeholders
The first step is to identify who your stakeholders are. Stakeholders can be defined
as organizations or individuals who are affected by your project, have influence or
power over it, or have an interest in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion11. In
other words, stakeholders are those groups or individuals with a vested interest in
the objectives, activities, and outcomes of your project. In the context of the Lake
Victoria Initiative, practically all the town residents are stakeholders because, as
consumers, they are directly affected by any planned improvements in the water
and sanitation services.
Whereas the Lake Victoria Initiative stakeholders go beyond the project towns to
include national and sub-national institutions, this Guide focuses on the town-lev-
el stakeholders. The national ministries and regional bodies are, therefore, not con-
sidered in the list of town-level stakeholders. They are, however, represented in the
PMU and PIU in each country.
A list of town-level stakeholders of the Lake Victoria Initiative is contained in Box
2 below. It should be noted that this list is not exhaustive.
11. African Development Bank. 2001. Handbook on Stakeholder Consultation and Participation in ADB Operations, pg. 2
20
Town-Level Stakeholders of ing have a direct impact on the management of their oper-
the Lake Victoria Initiative ations. The Lake Victoria Initiative improves on their assets
and management capacity, for sustainability of the project. It
Poor women and men, the elderly, youth, orphans and also assists in building the capacity of local service providers
other vulnerable groups – are often excluded from deci- in the areas of business plan development, financial man-
sion-making but are the most affected by the lack of water agement, technical management, including operations and
and sanitation services. The Lake Victoria Initiative supports maintenance and demand management.
the participation of poor women and men, youth, orphan-
headed households, the elderly, people living with AIDS and Local private sector – town-wide improvements in water
other marginalized groups in the Multi-Stakeholder forum. supply, sanitation, drainage and solid-waste management will
attract further investments and increase local economic ac-
Local Authorities – they are legally obliged to provide wa- tivities in the participating towns. The local private sector will,
ter, sanitation and urban planning services to their town res- therefore, be direct beneficiaries of the Lake Victoria Initiative.
idents. The staff and the elected leadership of the Local Au-
thorities such as the mayor and councilors are expected to Local water vendor associations – are currently responsible
participate in all stages of the Lake Victoria Initiative to en- for most of the service provision to the poor communities in
sure that it is properly integrated into the local urban system. the participating towns. The Lake Victoria Initiative will support
them in facilitating and supporting the formation of associa-
Non-governmental Organizations and community-based tions of small-scale service providers; providing access to fi-
organizations – responsible for community mobilization and nance and supporting development of entrepreneurship skills;
implementation of community water and sanitation schemes. regulating prices and monitoring quality of water supplied to
They are also responsible for community awareness raising, consumers; and establishing linkages with utilities (through
training and education activities. Partnership building with lo- franchising etc.) to ensure vertical integration and synergy.
cal authorities also create opportunities for contracting non-
governmental organizations and community groups for serv- Local Media – responsible for raising levels of awareness
ice provision. about water, sanitation, waste management and drain-
age issues in the Lake Victoria Initiative in general, and in
Local Water and Sanitation Service providers – water and the participating towns, in particular, among political lead-
sanitation utilities and small-scale providers are managers of ers, policy makers, development partners, and beneficiary
assets and any assistance in infrastructure or capacity build- communities. Box 2
The 1996 World Bank Participation Sourcebook12 outlines various efforts to address the
disequilibrium of power, knowledge and influence among stakeholder groups and
to allow weaker, less organized groups to interact effectively with stronger, more
established stakeholders. These include:
12. The World Bank. 1996. The World Bank Participation Sourcebook, Washington, D.C.
21
iii. Separate events – in some cases, it may be valuable to meet with specif-
ic population groups separately, for example, to hold a separate wom-
en’s meeting to discuss their particular concerns.
iv. Levelling techniques – power differentials between stakeholders can be
reduced through the use of participatory methods. A skilled facilita-
tor can use a number of techniques to ensure that all participants have
equal opportunity to make their voices heard. Negotiating systems may
need to be developed for handling conflicting interests between differ-
ent groups of local stakeholders.
v. Use of intermediaries – in circumstances where the direct participation
of marginalized individuals themselves is not feasible, intermediar-
ies or surrogates may be identified to represent their views and defend
their interests.
Stakeholder Mapping cards are replaced with coloured cards, one col-
our for each cluster. The name of the stakeholder is
The UN-HABITAT Toolkit for supporting Participatory Urban De- transferred to the coloured card, and the main inter-
cision Making spells out a group technique that can be ap- ests of the stakeholder are written on the card be-
plied in mapping stakeholders: low the name.
• The participants put the name of each stakeholder • The coloured cards are organized in starlike fashion
on white, circular cards of approx. 10cm in diame- along a line for each cluster where the centre of the
ter, and put them on a big table, or the floor or a wall star is the project or the initial focus question. Using
(with removable adhesive). group judgments, the cards are placed at a distance
from the centre corresponding to the importance of
• When no more suggestions for stakeholders are pre- the stakeholder for the project. The cards must be
sented, the main interests of each stakeholder are fixed with removable adhesive, allowing later modifi-
identified in relation to the focus questions. cations of the visual presentation.
• The cards are organized in clusters of related inter- Source: UNCHS Habitat. 2001. Tools to Support Participatory Urban
Box 3 ests. When agreement has been reached, the white Decision Making, Urban Governance Toolkit Series. Nairobi pg. 24
2.2
Sensitize Stakeholders
After identifying all the stakeholders, they should be mobilized and sensitized on
the objectives of the project and their involvement in the achievement of its objec-
tives. In the preparatory phase of the Lake Victoria Initiative, stakeholder sensitiza-
tion was done at three levels:
22
2.2.1 High Level Town Hall Meetings
A series of town hall meetings were held with key stakeholders in the participat-
ing towns to sensitize them on the importance of the Lake Victoria Initiative, in-
cluding their active participation in the achievement of its objectives. To create po-
litical support and commitment for the programme at the regional level, the Exec-
utive Director of UN-HABITAT, Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka was joined in the
town hall meetings by three East African Ministers for Water: Minister for Water
and Irrigation in Kenya, Hon. Martha Karua, Uganda’s Minister of State for Water
Resources, Hon. Maria Mutagamba and Deputy Minister for Water and Livestock
Development, Hon. Anthony Diallo. The meetings took place from 23-25 Novem-
ber 2004 in Bukoba and Muleba in Tanzania, Mutukula and Kyotera in Uganda,
and Kisii and Homa Bay in Kenya.
This was the first time that three ministers from the
region conducted a joint tour of the region to meet
and discuss with local stakeholders.
The meetings brought together various stakeholders, including, among others: lo-
cal Members of Parliament for the constituencies under which the towns fall; the
Mayor and Councillors for each town (and other relevant officials such as town
clerks, water engineers and health inspectors); the District and Regional Commis-
sioners; representatives of water and sanitation authorities, regulators, service pro-
viders, catchment management authorities, district water engineers etc.; Non-gov-
ernmental Organizations; community groups; faith-based groups, private sector;
and the local media.
During the meetings, the Ministers stressed the need for stakeholder involvement
and active participation in the formulation and implementation of the Initiative to
ensure its sustainability beyond the project period. The stakeholders, on their part,
expressed their support and commitment to the implementation of the Initiative.
i. What are the problems of water, sanitation, solid waste and drainage in
your neighbourhood?
ii. What actions (both physical infrastructure and capacity building) do
you think should be implemented to address the above problems?
iii. What contribution can you and/or your community group make to
solve the above problems?
23
The community consultations ensured that poor women and men, the elderly, youth,
orphans and other vulnerable groups, whose voices are otherwise not often heard
in a structured workshop environment, were listened to and documented.
13. International Finance Corporation. 2007. Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies Doing
Business in Emerging Markets, Washington D.C.
24
Tips on Integrating Women’s meeting in plenary to explore community-wide issues, and
Perspectives in Stakeholder then to divide into smaller working groups (e.g. women, men,
youth, elderly) so that issues of concern or priority to those
Consultations specific groups can be explored in greater detail.
The following tips may be helpful when thinking about how
to more fully integrate women’s perspectives into your con- Hold separate meetings – Since in many cultures women’s
sultation process. voices are often not effectively present or heard in traditional
meetings or workshops, it may be necessary to take special
Get the full picture – Experience shows that men and steps to create a venue in which women’s own issues and
women often have different needs and priorities, different concerns can be raised. Common practices include having
perspectives on key water and sanitation issues, and may focus group meetings with women, or calling separate wom-
be differentially impacted by a project or program – with en’s meetings specifically for your purposes, or as an addi-
women bearing disproportionate negative impacts. Good tional item at an existing meeting where women have gath-
practice encourages seeking out the views of women, be- ered. It is advisable to reach out to women through as many
cause they will provide you with a more complete picture of different networks as possible, including women groups, par-
the problems, actions required and their willingness to con- ents’ school meetings, mothers’ or women’s clubs and asso-
tribute to the problem. ciations, artisan groups, women’s cooperatives, health pro-
moters, and church or other religious groups.
Disaggregate your data – A lot of data is generated during
community consultations and other related assessments. To Raise priority issues for women – It is not uncommon for
allow this data to better serve you in terms of understanding discussions to become dominated by men and the issues
gender differences related to your project, it should be disag- that matter most to them. But what do the women want to
gregated by gender. A related point is making sure you have talk about? Active intervention may be required to identify is-
a representative sample by gender when undertaking surveys sues that are important to women and to make sure they
and interviews. Given that most interviews are done with the are given equal weight. This includes getting such issues
“head of household” – which usually means men – this re- onto the meeting agenda, raising them in group discussions,
quires finding other ways to get an equivalent female sample. and including them in survey questionnaires.
Get more women in the room – Often, the key to getting Remember that “women” are not a homogenous group
more women in the room is to make meetings more acces- – It is helpful to keep in mind when trying to engage women
sible and convenient. For example, choose a time of day, that they are not a homogenous group. All women will not
date, and location convenient for women. necessarily have the same interests or priorities. Therefore,
when involving women in consultations, attention is needed
Use active facilitation – Women’s participation can be facil- to ensure representation of different perspectives across so-
itated in public meetings or workshops through a number of cioeconomic, caste, ethnic, and religious lines. Marital status
different techniques, such as increasing the amount of time and age can also be important factors. It may also be useful
spent in smaller groups; having some group-work that is sin- to identify and consult with NGOs or community-based or-
gle sex; asking specifically “What do the women in the room ganizations that represent women from minority groups.
think about this issue?”; and/or using games, drama, or draw-
Source: Adapted from International Finance Corporation. 2007.
ing to increase women’s level of comfort and contribution. Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies
An alternative could be to have the first part of a workshop or Doing Business in Emerging Markets, Washington D.C. Pg 56-60 Box 4
Hosted by the respective Municipal Councils, the workshops were attended by rep-
resentatives of poor women and men, the elderly, youth, orphans and other vul-
nerable groups, non-governmental organizations active in the towns, community
and faith-based organizations, water service providers and regulators, private sec-
tor, Municipal Authorities and Ministries of Water, Environment and Health, and
the local media, among others. The workshops provided stakeholders with an op-
portunity to review and provide input on the design of the physical and capacity
building interventions in water, sanitation, solid waste and drainage.
25
Step 2: Establish a
Multistakeholder Forum
Stakeholders should meet approximately two weeks after the workshops to set up
the multistakeholder forum. The two weeks allow for time to consult various inter-
ested groups on the selecting their representatives to the multistakeholder forum.
During the stakeholders workshop, stakeholders should also agree on who will ar-
range for the meeting to establish the multistakeholder forum. The meeting can be
organized within the offices of the Municipal Council or any other venue agreed on
by the stakeholders. Discussions should focus, among others, on the development
of the terms of reference for the multistakeholder forum.
26
Content of the Multistakeholder • Methods of decision making, including dispute reso-
Forum’s Terms of Reference lution and review;
The Multistakeholder Forum’s terms of reference should de- • Resources to be provided by the Multistakeholder
scribe the following: Forum and the Municipal Council; and
• The activities to be undertaken by the MSF; • Agreements on how the outcomes of the MSF delib-
erations will be integrated into the PIU process.
• The roles of the different Thematic Working Groups,
including the specific activities to be performed, in- These terms of reference should be signed by the members
formation to be provided, and schedules for their in- of the Multistakeholder Forum and the Municipal Council,
put and contribution; and reviewed periodically to assure that they are being ob-
served and are up-to-date.
• Standards for the sharing of information to be used in Adapted from the International Council for Local Environmental
the process, including agreements on confidentiality; Initiatives (ICLEI), Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, 1996. Box 5
14. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, Toronto, On-
tario, Canada, 1996.
27
Checklist on the Selection In selecting Forum members consider:
of MSF Members
• The scope of work to be undertaken by the forum.
Ensure Representation of:
• The involvement of a critical mass of organizations and
• Local Women and youth groups and other local individuals who have the political will to take action.
groups who are always under-represented.
• The degree of inclusiveness you hope to achieve.
• Service users – those people who use and are af-
fected by services. • The skills, knowledge, and experience the different
individuals or organizations can contribute.
• Service Providers – Those people who control and
manage services. • The inclusion of parties who will need to be involved
in the implementation of any plan.
• Individuals or groups with a particular expertise relat-
ed to the services or issues. • The inclusion of organizations or individuals with
credibility within their own constituencies.
• Individuals or groups whose interests are affected by
the service or issues. Source: Adapted from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
Box 6 (ICLEI). 1996. Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
28
iv. Mobilize the local community for project implementation;
v. Regularly monitor the implementation of the programme for regular
feedback and learning;
vi. Ensuring transparent and corruption-free project implementation (See
Box 7 below);
vii. Arbitrate over local conflicts arising from the implementation of Lake
Victoria Initiative (See Box 8 below);
viii. Negotiate for community-based management of public facilities such
as water kiosks and toilets (See Box 9 below for the criteria developed
by the Kisii multistakeholder forum for awarding water kiosks to com-
munity groups for management). Annex 1 also contains a sample lease
agreement signed between a women group and a water service provid-
er in Homa Bay town.
ix. Share information and exchange experiences gained from programme
implementation with other Lake Victoria Initiative stakeholders;
It should be noted that these responsibilities are not exhaustive. Participating towns
are encouraged to include additional responsibilities where necessary.
29
Multistakeholder Forum as a and their use in project activities. Armed with this, the forum
Mechanism for fighting corruption will be in a better position to demand better accountability
and transparency in the execution of project activities.
The ongoing development of water sector policy and broad-
er institutional reforms in a number of developing countries Current trends in municipal governance, including partici-
are creating an enabling environment for anti-corruption ef- patory budgeting and involving local stakeholders in vetting
forts, including transparent financial management in public municipal expenditure have also created an avenue for effec-
institutions. However, it is really not yet clear if or how such tive participation of the multistakeholder forum. In Kisii town,
high level enabling environment efforts can be made to work for example, the Municipal Council has, for the first time, put
for the poor. There is much to suggest that most pro-poor its annual budget in the local newspapers for scrutiny and
efforts will be local efforts, and the closer the better to the input by local stakeholders. The Council has also, for the first
activities involving the poor. time, invited town residents to contribute to the development
of its service charter. The multistakeholder forum, therefore,
The multistakeholder forum is a key vehicle for addressing provides an organized platform for citizen’s actions in proc-
corruption at the project and municipal levels. At the project esses such as participatory planning and budgeting, pro-
level, anti-corruption efforts should focus on the use of finan- moting open and transparent publication of information and
cial resources, tendering and procurement and project imple- budgets, public expenditure tracking, reporting and moni-
mentation among others. The multistakeholder forum should toring of expenditures and outcomes, as well as public so-
Box 7 be empowered with information on the flow of project funds cial audits.
Multistakeholder Forum as a Mechanism along the pipeline. In addition, no priority was given to land-
for Conflict Management and Resolution owners in digging the trenches that pass through their plots.
The contractor had to suspend works until the multistake-
The multistakeholder forum is a mechanism for managing holder forum negotiated with individual landowners to allow
potential conflict and political influences over the project. the water pipeline to pass.
Given the highly localised nature of water and sanitation
services and the balancing act that occurs between stake- In the end, the landowners agreed to allow the pipeline to
holder groups, partnerships may assist in more ably man- pass through their plots on condition that provision was
aging local conflicts and political influences over the project. made to serve them with water and give them priority in dig-
Disputes over land on which the water pipeline passes can ging the pipeline trenches passing through their plots at a
easily be dealt with within the multistakeholder forum. fee.
In Kisii, for example, high population density in the town and Conflicts and political influence are also likely to arise in the
its surroundings has put immense pressure on land. It was location of the water and sanitation facilities. In Homa Bay
difficult to convince landowners to allow the water pipeline town, for example, the multistakeholder forum had to nego-
to pass through their plots. The resistance was complicated tiate with individual plot owners to equitably distribute toilets
Box 8 by the fact that no provision was made to serve consumers and water kiosks in the Shauri Yako area.
30
larly briefs the members of the multistakeholder forum on the progress in project
implementation.
Criteria for awarding Water Kiosks • The group must exhibit their group activities and fu-
to Community Groups in Kisii ture plans.
The multistakeholder forum in Kisii has developed guidelines • The group must have submitted their group files and
to avoid conflicts and potential political influence in the award objectives to the respective area chiefs.
of the water and sanitation facilities to local groups to man-
age. A task force drawn from members of the multistakehold- • The interested groups should have a recommenda-
er forum was formed to develop the criteria. The criteria was tion letter from the area chief.
arrived at after long consultation amongst many stakeholder
groups represented in the multistakeholder forum. The task force also recommended that to be able to achieve
their targets, the following must be done:
The following is the criteria recommended by the multistake-
holder forum for awarding Water Kiosks: • A meeting between the multistakeholder forum and
all selected block committee members be held.
• There must be an area committee to oversee the
group selection and recommend the suitable one to • The physical planner should be invited to address
run the water kiosk. The Gusii Water and Sewerage multistakeholder forum members and the selected
Company was to provide a list of interested groups. committee members on this agenda.
• The group must belong to the same area where the • The task force committee members to visit two area
kiosk is located. chiefs for Township and Bosongo together with the
block committee members.
• The group must have been registered with the Minis-
try of Social Services for the last two years. • They also recommended interviews with the town’s
residents and requested the area chiefs, their as-
• The group must show members’ register (not less sistants and clan elders help in disseminating the
than 15 people), financial record and a valid bank information.
account with at least a balance for Kshs.3000/=.
Source: Minutes of the Kisii Multistakeholder Forum Box 9
31
Step 3: Establish
Thematic Working Groups
Thematic working groups are smaller groups carved out of the multistakeholder fo-
rum. The working groups make it easier for the forum to focus on specific project is-
sues. In the case of the Lake Victoria Initiative, project activities can be categorized
into three main areas:
4.1
Physical Infrastructure Working Group
The Physical Infrastructure Working Group is responsible for monitoring physical
infrastructure interventions, including, but not limited to:
32
33
4.2
Capacity Building Working Group
The Capacity Building Working Group is responsible for monitoring capacity build-
ing activities, including, but not limited to:
4.3
Public Awareness and Education Working Group
The Public Awareness and Education Working Group will be responsible for design-
ing and monitoring public awareness and education programmes, including, but not
limited to:
34
4.4 Capacity Building Requirements
of the Working Groups
Working groups will need different types of support in order to perform effective-
ly. This support will vary from country to country and in relation to the different
working group activities, but should include:
Youth
Local Government
Non-governmental
Organizations
Community-based Groups
Faith-based Groups
Local Media
Adapted from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Local Agenda 21 Planning
Guide
35
Step 4: Develop a Project
Monitoring Plan
For purposes of monitoring the implementation of the Lake Victoria Initiative, each
Thematic Working Group should develop a monitoring plan to measure progress
in the implementation of project activities.
5.1
What is Project Monitoring?
Monitoring is the regular observation and recording of activities taking place in a
project or programme. It is a process of routinely gathering information on all as-
pects of the project. To monitor is to check on how project activities are progressing.
It is observation – systematic and purposeful observation.
Monitoring also involves giving feedback about the progress of the project to the
donors, implementers and beneficiaries of the project. Reporting enables the gathered
information to be used in making decisions for improving project performance.
Monitoring provides the necessary information to identify and take action to re-
dress gaps and weaknesses in project implementation. As many individuals and in-
stitutions as possible that have any interest in the project, at all levels, should par-
ticipate in monitoring.
Box 10 below contains the principles and criteria that determine the success of
stakeholder participation in monitoring.
Principles and Criteria that determine • The monitoring or evaluation exercise should have
the success of stakeholder added value in terms of the new learning it brings
on how best to achieve the goals of community
participation in monitoring empowerment.
• Recognition that the community is heterogeneous, • Strict adherence to ethical standards in the collec-
with different social groups which have different in- tion and interpretation of data is critical.
terests, challenges and perceptions. The various
groups should be identified and engaged either sep- • Three-pronged: gathers information, develops hu-
arately or in mixed forums, depending on the effec- man capacity, and stimulates commitment to further
tiveness of either approach in ensuring their full en- action for positive change.
gagement. Attention should be particularly paid to
ensuring good representation of women.
36
5.2
Purpose of Monitoring
Monitoring is important in project planning and implementation. It is like watch-
ing where you are going while riding a bicycle; you can adjust as you go along and
ensure that you are on the right track.
Box 11 below outlines advantages of stakeholder participation in monitoring.
The advantages of participatory monitoring include: Making appropriate decisions: monitoring provides infor-
mation necessary for making decisions. When many people
Common understanding of problems and identifica- participate in monitoring it means that they have participated
tion of solutions: participative monitoring helps communi- in providing management information and contributed to de-
ty members and stakeholders to get a shared understanding cision making. The decisions from this are more likely to be
of the problems facing the target beneficiaries in the com- acceptable and relevant to the majority of the women par-
munity or project (their causes, magnitude, effects and impli- ticipants. This makes human and resource mobilization for
cations). This facilitates the identification of solutions. These project implementation easier.
solutions are more likely to be appropriate because they are
derived from the current situation. Performance improvement during monitoring: if per-
formance deviation is discovered, solutions can be devised
Builds capacity and enhances ownership: It serves as by the community members. To find appropriate decisions
a means of building the capacity of project beneficiaries to that can be implemented requires participation of those who
identify their problems, needs, solutions and develop strat- will put the solution into practice. Therefore participation in
egies for improving their own activities. It enables the tar- monitoring can help improve project performance.
get participants to review their own progress, identify bot-
tlenecks in a timely manner, determine future action and en- Design of projects: the information generated during
hance their control of the project or activities. project monitoring helps in re-designing projects in that lo-
cality to make them more acceptable by the community. The
Motivates community members and stakeholders: It lessons learned can also be used in the design of similar
serves as a means of keeping partners/stakeholders (e.g. projects elsewhere.
government, NGOs, extension agencies, etc.) informed of
progress and involved in reviewing project priorities, which in Collection of Information: If many people participate in
turn enhances their interest and support to the programme/ monitoring they are more likely to come up with more accu-
project. It can also help to build the capacity of target partici- rate information. This is because, information that is omit-
pants and stakeholders to reflect, analyze and take action ted by one party, can be collected by the other (triangula-
tion or cross checking). Each stakeholder is putting varying
Benefits the target participants and enhances emphasis on the different aspects of the project using differ-
accountability: participation in monitoring ensures that ent methods. Alternatively, one party knowing that the infor-
the community to which the project was intended are the mation they are collecting will be verified forestalls deliberate
ones benefiting from it. It increases awareness of women’s wrong reporting.
rights, which elicits their participation in guarding against Source: Community Based Monitoring and Evaluation, Third African
project resource misappropriation. Guarding against re- Evaluation Association Conference, 1-4 December 2004 Box 11
37
Challenges of Participation in Monitoring communities. It therefore necessitates much time and re-
sources for capacity building. It also risks wrong reporting.
High initial costs: Participation in monitoring involving com-
munity requires many resources (e.g. time, transport and Inaccuracy of Information: Some stakeholders, from the
performance-related allowances). It is demanding processes community to the national level, may intentionally provide
that can over-stretch volunteer spirit at community level and wrong information to depict better performance and outputs
financial resources at district and national levels. Therefore it or because of community or project differences. To coun-
must be simple and focused to vital elements. teract wrong or incorrect reporting needs sensitization and
consensus building that is difficult to attain.
Quantity and Variety of Information: Monitoring requires
collection, documentation and sharing of a wide range of in- Source: Community Based Monitoring and Evaluation, Third African
Box 12 formation. This requires many skills that are lacking in the Evaluation Association Conference, 1-4 December 2004
5.3
Objectives of Monitoring
Objectives of monitoring include:
Photo: © UN-HABITAT
38
5.4
How to Design a Monitoring Plan
The monitoring plan should specify the activities in the order that they will be exe-
cuted and the individuals to execute them. In the case of the Lake Victoria Initiative,
this helps the multistakeholder forum to know the activities that should be carried
out by particular individuals in a given period of time.
A sample monitoring plan is contained in Table 2 below:
39
Step 5: Implement the
Monitoring Plan
The final step is, perhaps, the most critical because it translates the monitoring plans
into concrete actions intended to guide the performance of the PIU.
To implement the monitoring plan, each thematic working group should discuss
and agree on the key issues to be monitored, monitoring indicators, means of ob-
serving, frequency, and suggested monitoring procedures as shown in sample con-
tained in Table 3 below.
Each thematic working group should then agree on how often they should visit the
project site as a means of verifying what is taking place. During the project visits,
the team should look at what is happening (observe) and talk to everybody who
is involved in the Project. A sample thematic working groups routine monitoring
form is shown in Table 4 below.
Whenever a monitoring visit is carried out, those monitoring should write down
what their findings are. They can use the monitoring form above or agree on any
other reporting format that captures the findings of the exercise in relation to their
40
work plan. The findings from the monitoring visits should be discussed with other
members of the multistakeholder forum.
The multistakeholder forum and PIU teams should store the information well and
use it for future actions and to inform other stakeholders. At the PIU office, there
should be a file in which copies of multistakeholder forum monitoring reports and
other documents related to the multistakeholder forum activities are kept.
DECLARATION: To be signed
To the best of my/our knowledge, I/We confirm that the information provided in this report is correct.
Signed:.................................................................................................
Name:..................................................................................................
Date:....................................................................................................
41
Institutionalizing the Multistake-
holder Forum as a Pro-poor
Governance Mechanism
Apart from being a mechanism for inclusive governance and decision-making in
the implementation of the Lake Victoria Initiative, the town-level multistakehold-
er forum is also designed as a pro-poor governance mechanism for actively in-
volving town residents in tackling citywide issues and for improving municipal
governance.
For the multistakeholder forum to be effective in improving governance at the
municipal level, it should be formally recognized by the local government. The rec-
ognition provides both democratic accountability and a close link with the official
activities of the local government.
A clear mandate and authorization from the local government is crucial consid-
ering that the multistakeholder forum is meant to take on citywide issues and the
longer-term democratic governance of the town. The recognition can take the form
a municipal by-law, a memorandum of understanding, a letter of agreement or
minuted deliberations of the local government, among others. Participating towns
are encouraged to explore an agreeable option for recognizing the multistakehold-
er forum. The mandate should specify the roles and responsibilities of the Stake-
holder Group.
42
iii. Strengthening Consumer Voice in Utilities; and
iv. Preparation of City Development Strategies.
15. UN-HABITAT. July 2004. 72 Frequently Asked Questions about Participatory Budgeting, United Nations Human Set-
tlements Programme, Nairobi, Kenya, pg. 20.
16. George Matovu, 2006. Capacity Building for Participatory Planning and Budgeting in Africa: Initiatives and Strategic
Perspectives, Paper presented at the Pan African Conference of Ministers of Local Government held in Maseru, King-
dom of Lesotho, from August 30th to September 1st, 2006.
43
Benefits Derived from Participatory • Good rapport between the council and stakeholders
Budgeting in Singida District through improved dialogue that used not to exist.
Council in Tanzania • City council staff are now more accessible to citizens
In Singida District Council in Tanzania, the following benefits
have been recorded ever since participatory budgeting was • Grass root communities are now involved in the
introduced: identification of development projects.
• The numbers of projects suggested by ordinary citi- • Services are more responsive to citizens’ needs.
zens that have been implemented has increased.
• Inequality and exclusion has been addressed
• Sense of ownership is high for projects and security through the involvement of many stakeholders like
from the community has increased. women and slum dwellers.
• Some communities are participating only in project • Poverty reduction has been addressed through
identification and priorities. projects that improve the status of the poor.
• Capital budgets have now been separated from op- • Revenue collection has improved.
erating budgets giving greater transparency in the
budgetary process. Source: George Matovu, 2006. Capacity Building for Participatory Planning
and Budgeting in Africa: Initiatives and Strategic Perspectives, Paper presented
at the Pan African Conference of Ministers of Local Government held in
Box 13 Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho, from August 30th to September 1st, 2006.
As illustrated in the Kerala Case below (Case Study 1), a clear political will and an
organized citizenry are some of the basic preconditions for the implementation of
a participatory budget.
Participatory Planning and Budgeting to become more self-reliant and to develop themselves. It
in Kerala: The People’s Plan Campaign also felt that removing ‘non-core’ functions from the state
government would make the delivery of these functions and
In 1997, Kerala’s State Government made urban local bod- services more efficient.
ies (ULBs) responsible for spending 30 percent of state an-
nual plan funds. More importantly, it also gave them a high The funds devolved to ULBs are to be spent in a partici-
degree of autonomy in planning for and spending these patory manner through an elaborate chain of consultation.
funds. This triggered a state-wide pioneering participatory Neighborhood Groups and Residents’ Welfare Associations
budgeting and training initiative, known as the ‘People’s Plan relay their ideas to their Ward Committees, who send rep-
Campaign,’ in which local neighborhood groups and Ward resentatives to city/town-level conventions, where a draft
Committees contribute project ideas for their city, negoti- plan for the city is negotiated and crystallized. Draft plans
ate with counterparts, and reach an agreement with the lo- are then sent on to the municipal council, which forwards it
cal municipal council on specific projects for the year. Com- to the district council for inputs, and finalizes it according-
munities then participate in the drafting, implementing, and ly. Over 224 fulltime coordinators, and scores of citizen vol-
monitoring of projects. unteers, at the municipal, district and block levels assist this
state-wide process.
It is widely considered to be one of the pioneering and most
successful experiments in participatory budgeting in India, Citizens are now able to exert ‘voice’ through their involve-
with all stakeholders – including slum representatives, middle ment in the municipal planning and implementation process.
class volunteers, women’s groups, elected representatives, This is particularly evident in the case of the poor, as a result
and government officials – being especially trained to exert of which basic services have seen significant improvements.
their voice in public service planning and delivery. Citizens have also been able to exert more ‘client power’
over some municipal service providers. Additionally, ULBs
The government’s move was enabled by Kerala’s Panchay- have now become fully responsible for projects that directly
ati Raj and Municipal Acts, both passed in 1994 and whose affect their constituencies, including poverty eradication and
key feature was the transfer of various state level schemes, the upkeep of roads. This has completely transformed their
institutions, buildings and staff to local bodies. The govern- relationship with the state government. At the same time,
ment’s objective was to empower local bodies, ensure the the use of volunteer labor and cash contributions by benefi-
preparation of plans that responded to felt local needs, and ciaries has substantially lowered project costs.
to create an environment for institutional reforms. Most of all, Source: Water and Sanitation Program – Asia. 2007. Engaging
Case Study 1 it wanted to mobilize Kerala’s people – especially its poor – with Citizens to Improve Services, pg. 57 - 76
44
7.1.2 Preparation of Citizen Report Cards
The development of Citizen Report Cards (CRCs) is another area where the multi-
stakeholder forum can be involved. CRCs are an invaluable tool by which to gauge
consumer satisfaction with specific services and to highlight shortcomings. They
present a structured set of service issues around which service agencies and the
government can initiate actions to show results. Similarly, by measuring the inci-
dence and costs of illegal activity, CRCs have put ‘clean government’ firmly on the
agenda of citizens and civil society organizations.
CRCs generally question respondents, and make statistical analyses, on the serv-
ice-related questions listed in Box 14 below.
Through the findings of CRCs, the multistakeholder forum can mobilize town
residents to pressure service improvements from city agencies. By providing the
public with the information necessary to hold elected representatives personally
accountable, it enables citizens to create the agenda for service and governance
improvements – reversing the current situation in which politicians and political
parties make electoral promises for which it is difficult to hold them accountable.
It also creates competitive pressures amongst municipal councillors to find sus-
tainable solutions to problems. An example of a Citizen Report Card is contained
in Case Study 2 below.
Citizen Report Card in Bangalore The Second CRC, run in 1999, on a larger sample, surveyed
satisfaction with the same agencies as in the First CRC and
In 1994, 1999 and 2003, the Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a applied the same methodology for representative samples.
Bangalore-based NGO, ran extensive surveys with city res- However, it actively engaged service providers and the city
idents to determine their levels of satisfaction with a range government in designing the questionnaire, so as to enable
of municipal services, as also to ascertain the costs they in- them to gather specific information that they required to im-
curred for poor service. The Public Affairs Centre first as- prove service, and to support their attempts to systemize
sessed the nature of the problems that citizens were con- the process of data collection and feedback. While the CRC
fronting through group discussions. It then designed a spe- revealed some improvements, satisfaction levels continued
cialized questionnaire, and used a market firm to adminis- to remain below 50 percent even for the best-rated agen-
ter it to 1,200 middle class to low income households. Local cies. The scope was broadened considerably for the Third
donations covered the costs of the survey. CRC, 2003 and it also included an assessment of reform in-
itiatives by city agencies and an examination of the extent to
The questionnaire was administered to 480 middle-income which citizen feedback related to agency reforms.
and 330 slum households, which had interacted with public
services agencies within the previous six months, across six In Bangalore, PAC strategically used CRC findings to pres-
localities in Bangalore. Respondents were asked to assess sure improvements from local service agencies, by mobiliz-
eight of the city’s key public services/agencies on a scale of ing a coalition of civil society organizations to demand better
1 (‘Least Satisfied’) to 7 (‘Highly Satisfied’). They were also service. It also worked closely with the city’s service agen-
asked what direct and indirect costs they bore as a result of cies and the Karnataka Government to help them develop
poor service provision, how courteous and responsive serv- the strategies and capacity to address service gaps. By dis-
ice agency staff had been, and whether it had been neces- aggregating CRC findings to make independent presenta-
sary to make illegal payments. tions to specific service agencies on the level of public satis-
faction with their services (by zone, by economic class, and
Based on the findings of the survey CRCs and ratings were by year), PAC enabled each agency to obtain a perspective
then produced on individual public service providers with- on itself and plan more targeted interventions.
in the city. The findings of the CRC were shared with all the
public service agencies concerned, as also the state’s most
senior politicians and bureaucrats. They were also publicized
widely by the media. PAC also organized a series of public
meetings across the city to enable citizens to consider sur-
vey results, as also a strategy to ensure the necessary im-
provements. Subsequently, PAC has run two more CRCs in Source: Water and Sanitation Program – Asia. 2007. Engaging
Bangalore. with Citizens to Improve Services, pg. 165-184 Case Study 2
45
Service-related issues addressed Problem incidence and responsiveness – How often
by Citizen Report Cards do respondents experience a problem with service? Do
they complain, and to whom? How rapidly is the problem
Access – How many members of a given population have resolved?
access to a particular service? This analysis can be further
disaggregated to capture differences between specific loca- Service and opportunity costs – What costs (includ-
tions, and gender, age, socio-economic, or ethnic groups. ing ‘forced’ investments in alternatives) are respond-
ents bearing due to poor service, demands for unauthor-
Usage – Where access exists, to what extent is the serv- ized payments, undue distance and inconvenient delivery
ice infrastructure being used? What are the reasons for non- schedules/mechanisms?
use, where this exists? The objective of such questioning is
to understand how effectively delivery infrastructure is func- Transparency in service provision – To what extent utili-
tioning, and where the shortfalls lie. ties provide proactive disclosure on norms and standards of
service delivery?
Quality – How satisfying, useful, and relevant is the service?
What is the quality of service supply?
WaterVoice Committees in Great Britain WaterVoice provides a strong and independent voice for all
customers of water and sewerage companies in England
The water industry in general, whether operated through pri- and Wales. It operates through nine regional committees in
vatised companies, not for profit trusts, or public authorities, England and a committee for Wales. They represent the in-
is operated by large organisations, which can at times rep- terests of customers in respect of price, service and value
resent an inaccessible and formidable opponent to the indi- for money; they also investigate complaints from customers
vidual consumer. In response, customer representative mod- about their water company. Ten WaterVoice committee chair-
els have been established in Great Britain to act on the con- men form the WaterVoice Council, which along with sub-
sumer’s behalf on issues of charges, service standards, and committees, deal with issues at national and European lev-
complaints handling. els. WaterVoice Central is the statutory Ofwat Central Cus-
tomer Service Committee, established under the 1991 Water
In England and Wales, 10 WaterVoice committees are es- Industry Act and responsible for representing the interests of
tablished by OFWAT, and are independent of the privatised customers of Severn Trent and South Staffordshire Water.
water and sewerage companies in England and Glas Cymru
in Wales. The committees represent customer interests, deal
with complaints about water companies, and monitor the
service provided by water companies. The WaterVoice com-
Case Study 3 mittees work with Ofwat and hold their meetings in public. Source: www.watervoice.org.uk
17. Consumer Voice, Conference Issue Paper East Africa Regional Conference Accelerating Water Supply and Sanitation for
the Urban Poor 29-30 May 2006, Nairobi, Kenya.
46
Photo: © UN-HABITAT
any problems right and doing it in a fair way. In some countries they become in-
volved in ensuring water companies pay the proper compensation to customers
when they make mistakes18.
Although consumer voice has been slow to develop in the water sector, exam-
ples of successful groups representing water and sanitation customers are Water
Watch in Zambia and the Great Britain’s the Office of Water Services (OFWAT) and
its “WaterVoice” Committees.
In Lusaka, Zambia, the Water Watch committees have been going out to the poor-
er areas of the city to explain to customers their rights and responsibilities. They
have been so successful and so well received that the energy and telecommunica-
tion regulators have now asked them to include additional members and take on
responsibility for considering their performance as well (see Case Study 4 below)
47
NWASCO’s Water Watch Groups, Zambia dwindled as members of the public are coming forth to re-
port offenders. Some of the results include the following;
The economic regulator for water in Zambia, NWASCO, set
up Water Watch Groups to represent consumer interests in • Complaints brought to the company are now receiv-
the serviced areas and provide information to consumers on ing attention within the stipulated time
service delivery. Membership to the groups is voluntary and
usually advertised in the national press. Selected members • Increased awareness in all the departments of the
need to have a good understanding of water supplies and water company on the need to improve quality of
are required to serve for two years. service to the satisfaction of the customer and; in-
creased consumer awareness. NWASCO is now
Members meet every fortnight and are provided with initial able to get feedback from the consumers on the
training, stationery, transport and other help to carry out their sector strategies and policies being implemented
activities. They have delegated powers from NWASCO to and how they affect the consumers.
monitor the performance of the water utilities and follow-up
outstanding complaints from consumers regarding the quali- • The regulator has decided to include Water Watch
ty of service being provided and on any other related issues. Groups in the Tariff Adjustment Process as a re-
When the Water Watch Group’s intervention fails, they call sult of the feedback it has received from consumers
upon NWASCO to take up the complaint with the utility. At through the WWGs
this stage, the utility risks being penalised and the matter be-
ing publicised by the regulator. • Knowledge about water issues on the part of con-
sumers has increased and water companies have
Initial results of the Water Watch Groups have been very pos- been forced to sit up and improve the quality of
itive and good feedback from the public has been received. service
The quality of service by water companies and knowledge
about water issues on the part of consumers is obviously be- Source: Sam Kayaga, 2004, Research Findings of the Zambia Case
Case Study 4 ing enhanced and cases of vandalism of infrastructure has Study Regulating Public and Private Partnerships for the Poor
48
Preparation of the CDS brings together all stakeholders to develop a shared strate-
gic understanding of municipal priorities, constraints, and challenges, and consti-
tutes a shared vision of the city’s short, medium and long-term development objec-
tives19. It orders the city’s resources, and gives reason and orientation to the use of
these resources through a clear and consensual development implementation strat-
egy. The CDS is one of the key approaches within the Cities Alliance20.
The CDS approach is based on three important principles of enablement, par-
ticipation and capacity building. Empowering local authorities and other partners,
through enabling legal and institutional frameworks, is a necessary condition for
the CDS exercise. Without the participation of those at the local level – local govern-
ment and the urban poor – sustainable citywide strategies cannot be achieved. This
participation must be genuine, resulting in local ownership of the process. Case
Study 5 below summarizes UN-HABITAT’s Lake Victoria Region City Develop-
ment Strategies Programme.
Lake Victoria Region City Development The pioneer CDS cities in Phase I of the Lake Victoria CDS
Strategies Programme initiative are Kisumu (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), and Mu-
soma (Tanzania). The respective local authorities have en-
UN-HABITAT through its Urban Management Programme dorsed the CDS programme, and multi-sectoral coordinat-
(UMP), with support from SIDA, initiated the Lake Victo- ing committees have been set up. The initiative has focused
ria Region City Development Strategies Programme in early on building a consensus on key environmental issues and
2002, in a bid to strengthen the capacities of the three cen- the consensus has been used as the framework for prepar-
tres located along the shores of Lake Victoria. This initia- ing and implementing City Development Strategies in the
tive aims to mobilise the local authorities and stakeholders to three countries.
develop a programme laying out City Development Strate-
gies for improved urban environment and poverty reduction. The Second Generation of Lake Victoria CDS cities, Homa
It also seeks to address the absence of effective planning Bay (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda), and Bukoba (Tanzania) were
in Kisumu, Kampala, and Musoma – the three project sites. selected by UN-HABITAT in consultation with the Lake Victo-
The respective local authorities have endorsed the CDS pro- ria Regional Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC) to participate
gramme, and multi-sectoral coordinating committees have in the CDS programme. The cities have each prepared a pro-
been set up. The initiative has focused on building a consen- file and the preparation of the CDS document is ongoing.
sus on key environmental issues. The consensus has been
used as the framework for preparing and implementing City
Development Strategies for the three countries. Source: http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=19&catid=374&cid=188 Case Study 5
49
Annex I:
Sample Lease Agreement for a Water Vending Kiosk
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
LEASE AGREEMENT FOR WATER VENDING KIOSK
BUILT WITH FUNDS FROM UN- HABITAT
Whereas UN-HABITAT is assisting Lake Victoria South Water Services Board to up-
grade its facilities and improve the performance of Homa Bay Water Supply Scheme
for the benefit of all the residents of Homa Bay Municipality;
AND whereas under Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative, a Multi-
stakeholder Forum has been created as a structure to enhance pro-poor involvement
in development and governance of the facilities being funded by UN HABITAT;
AND further that the above said Multistakeholder Forum has been mandated to
deal with the facilities being put in place in Homa Bay under the Lake Victoria In-
itiative in the best interest of the public and in the interest of the water service pro-
vider; IT IS NOW AGREED AS FOLLOWS:-
a. That this LEASE shall be in respect to the water vending kiosk con-
structed at the junction of Tourist Hotel and National Cereals and Pro-
duce Board within Homa Bay Municipal Council.
b. The said water vending Kiosk is to be managed by Rapar Women
Group for a period of one year beginning 3rd December 2007 to 3rd Jan-
uary 2009 after which period of time, the said Water Vending Kiosk
shall revert back to the Water Service Provider and the Multistakehold-
er Forum.
c. The Multistakeholder Forum in consultation with the water service pro-
vider shall make a decision on whom to run the said water vending ki-
osk after the lapse of the current lease well before the lapse date so as to
avoid any inconveniences to the public.
50
. Upon the expiry of this lease, Rapar Women Group shall grant vacant
possession to the said water vending kiosk and shall re-apply along-
side other applicants for an extension of this lease, otherwise the Multi-
stakeholder Forum and the water service provider shall be entitled
to make a decision on whether to extend this lease in favour of Rapar
Women Group or lease out the said water vending kiosk to another
group altogether.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have herein-above set their respective hands
unto this agreement this………………day of ………………..2007.
SIGNED by MSF )
In the presence of: - )
)
)
)
)
) Secretary
) Multistakeholders Forum
51
Annex 2:
Sample Minutes of the Multistakeholder
Forum in Homa Bay Town
(Multistakeholder Forum)
MEETING No.01-2008-UNHABITAT/MSF/ HOMA BAY
Held at Homa Bay Municipal Hall on 11th March 2008
Participation
Samwel Nyauke Secretary MSF rep. EWP
Cllr. P. O. Nyauke Mayor/Chairman MSF
Lillian Aluoch D/DSDO-Homa Bay
Lamek Ogot HBMC
Sophie A. Obop HBMC
Francis Kwamanga PHO
Arthur Imbo Shauri Yako Rep
Dickson Odhiambo SOPIMA
Maurice Asuna Makongeni Friends
Cllr. Casmiel O. Binge Councillor
Joshua C. Ochogo Chief, Homa Bay Town
Isaac Ouso Nyandege Councillor, Kanyabala Ward
Jackton O. Oliel Assistant Chief, Arujo Sub location
MATTERS ARISING
A member sought to know what the task force on waste collection did. It was
noted the task force had completed its work and what now remained was for
the multistakeholder forum and the Municipal Council to work on strategy for
implementation.
52
The issue of revolving funds also came up as a matter arising. Members wanted
to know what became of these funds. It was agreed that the forum should wait for
funds from UN HABITAT to launch these funds. Otherwise, it was recognised that
several groups had lost a lot of their waste collection assets and thus they require
some support. Still members agreed that it will only be necessary to deal with how
much each group gets after funds are received.
On funds from UN HABITAT, members felt that the PIU should ensure that these
funds are availed to the ground to make running of the project activities especially
at the ground easier. The chairman of the multistakeholder forum was asked to li-
aise with the town clerk to ensure that these funds are availed.
A matter arose on what was being done on funds that were not accounted for by
the water office. It was again pointed out that Engineer Lai should be made to ac-
count for what he was given. It was the opinion of the members that UN-HABITAT
should proceed and release the second batch of the co-operation agreement funds
less what is said to have been misappropriated.
Clean Up exercise was also revisited and members unanimously agreed that to
make Homa bay town clean, they will have to get involved very aggressively in its
clean up. It was however noted that the post election violence had derailed a lot of
multistakeholder forum activities hence the need for a meeting with all chairman
of the groups participating in the clean ups.
An issue arose on the participation of officers from lands department. It was under-
scored that efforts need be put in place to continuously involve the lands depart-
ment into this project. On this it was resolved that letters of invitation to the next
meeting be sent out to the lands office and the surveyor to attend the meeting and
the same be delivered through delivery note.
Members also wondered why communication cash had not been given to Ms. So-
phie to ease invitation of members to the meeting. The chairman requested mem-
bers to be patient on this issue as UN HABITAT had not given out co-operation
agreement funds yet the Council is also overstretched financially.
AGENDA
53
• At the ballot, Lillian was lucky to have picked a yes to be able to represent
women at the above said meeting.
Water vending kiosk at National Cereals and Produce Board- Rapar women
group
• This was discussed under AOB. Members noted with concern that to
date, the said water Kiosk is not supplied with water yet the kiosks next
to it get water regularly. The chairman was asked to use his Councillors
and help solve these issues politically as it has gone beyond levels of civ-
il tolerance.
Project progress
• Members were informed that the project was about to enter its long-term
activities. It was, however, pointed out that so far, the first phase has
nothing to show as accomplished. It was resolved that before we take on
long term projects, it would be necessary to take account of what we have
achieved on the short term. This would require that UN HABITAT pro-
vides a forum for such review and give out details of the BQs, the work
done and the amounts involved.
Contractors work
• A member representing Makongeni Estate indicated that the work on
temporary refuse transfer point at Makongeni was shoddy as the transfer
point is already cracking. It was resolved that this issue be followed up
with the UN-HABITAT Clerk of Works, Mr. Cosmas Wambua.
Clean up successes
• Members sought to know when the Council would organise for a party or
celebration in respect to the achievements of the previous year in terms of
cleanliness awards bestowed on Homa Bay by LAVRLAC.
• It was pointed out that LAVRLAC issues do not concern multistakehold-
er forum but they can participate at celebrations. Members were however
concerned that it is their efforts that have contributed to the successes of
clean up exercise.
54
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 762 3120, Fax +254 20 762 3477
infohabitat@unhabitat.org, www.unhabitat.org